A Study Of Psychotherapy Thoughts About "Selfness" In The Buddhism And Humanistic Psychology

In more than two thousand years ago,there is a proverb in ancient Greece:Knowyourself.Then Westerners begined to explore themslves. But in China,Lao Zi alsoonce said:people who know others is smart,people who know themself is wise.So wecan see,“know oneself”is an eternal theme in the world.Self-exploration is a basicproposition in psychology,people study their psychological phenomenon allalong,which has maintained through philosophical psychology tocontemporamainstream psychology.As an approach to enlightenment,Buddhismresearch has really taken a keen understanding of “selfness”,and formulated a perfecttheory system,glittering with wisdom.With the development of psychology more andmore psychologist are interested in the insights on selfness in Buddhism,which agreewith western self-view unexpectedly and gradually.This paper tries to compare Buddhism with Humanistic psychology on the topicof selfness in theory and therapy.Then this paper tries to find some useful inspirationabout modern psychotherapy.In the aspect of theory，first of all,based on the study of “giving up ego-mind”,wefind that psychotherapy ideas in the Five skandhas and the doctrine of “Born withoutits heart” in the “diamond sutra” were consistent with the treatment principle of theMorita therapy.The root of Twelve origin is”Ignorance edge line”,the “line” is onekind of react.The psychotherapy ideas of Twelve origin is the awareness of react.Thisaccurate perception,conscious awareness of react is a kind of practice method of FourMindfulness in Buddhist scriptures “Satipatthana Sutta”.As one of modernpsychotherapy Mindfulness therapy is also originated from the “Satipatthana Sutta”.Then,based on the study of “self-actualization”theory,we find that the theoryemphasize the individual value and inner potential both in the causes and treatment ofthe mental illness.When the inner potential was hampered,it may lead to mental illness.When the inner potential was developed,it may promote the growth of thepersonality and make it perfect.Therefore,the visitor is the center of psychotherapy,theconsultants are available as supplementary role.The humanistic psychologist CarleRodgers founded People-centric therapy based on this idea.Finally,comparedBuddhism with Humanistic psychology on the topic of selfness in theory，we can sumup in three points:First,the selfness of Humanistic psychology and “Fake Selfness” ofBuddhism which consists of “Perception Accumulation” is essentially thesame.Second,the top development of Maslow’s “peak experience” as well as“Mettanneeds” is equal to Buddhist Nirvana.But the mean of Buddhist Nirvana hasmuch more than that.Third, While the ultimate goal of both is the same,the ways toachieve their goals is different.Humanistic Psychology emphasis onself-actualization,while Buddhism advocate giving up ego-mind.In the aspect of therapy, compared Buddhism with Humanistic psychology on thetopic of selfness,this paper demonstrates that Mindfulness therapy and Morita therapyis closely related with “giving up ego-mind”,which is advocated byBuddhism.Mindfulness has a feature of proactive,conscious awareness andnon-judgmental,Morita has a feature of “go with the flow”.Person-centered therapypay attention to human nature,inherent potential and self-actualization.Through the discussion of theory and therapy, I get some inspiration aboutmodern psychotherapy:First,the study of modern psychotherapy should pay moreattention to Buddhism,dig out the available theoretical resources,then try to makemore innovation.Second,the idea of “giving up ego-mind” completely can merge intothe idea of self-actualization.The integration point is the basis ofpersonality:worldview,view of life and values.Healthy personality should pursue theidea of self-actualization in the worldview and the view of life,and adhere to the ideaof giving up ego-mind in the values.Building a healthy personality can provide aid topsychotherapy.